Debra Messing has been casting about for another vehicle ever since Will & Grace wound up in 2006, but according to virtually every US critic, The Mysteries of Laura is definitely not the one.

The show's pilot got a real mauling when it first aired last September. Five episodes into its UK run on 5USA, however, and this critic, at least, is beginning to soften. Even in below-par material, Messing is a flame-haired firecracker.

Yes, the murder-of-the-week plots are silly, the supporting characters are underwritten and the show's fascination with working mothers "having it all" is laughably old-fashioned, but squint a little, and isn't that just part of the show's throwback charm? If you like Murder She Wrote and Monk you may find this colourful, lightweight and entirely un-gritty police procedural strangely appealing.